They'll push the scanning to the OS level, mandate that the OS does it. Hence the seemingly coordinated effort with Google on the sideloading changes, and enforcing play protect, etc.
Like the TPM & Microsoft scare when TPM first started arriving in hardware, and we all thought it would be used to lock out other OSes. Only it's for real this time.
The proposed regulation only applies to publicly available services, and only binds service providers, not end users. There is nothing preventing you from sending encrypted emails, just as there is nothing preventing you from pasting encrypted messages into WhatsApp or storing and sharing encrypted files in Dropbox.
What would prevent me from writing my own program to do something simple like sending encrypted messages?
Nothing. That is, nothing until your application becomes popular. I will keep encrypting my emails and they can pound sand once legislation for this makes it to my country. It should be a while before these shenanigans are in every distribution or kernel for Linux.
The people who are trying to install this kind of law basically do!
They want to change the public perception from "Private encrypted communication is good and desirable" to "Encrypted is unsafe. Encrypted could be scary. Encrypted enables Bad People."
In a vain attempt to inhibit access to non-broken cryptography, we will probably see operating systems that allow actual root access to the user -- or even just allowing non-manufacturer-signed executables to run! -- being painted as "unsafe platforms." Apple has already transitioned most of the way to being fully in the "trusted computing" camp, since it takes a great deal of gymnastics to even modify the OS because of the Mac's sealed system volume, and out of the box all executables must be blessed by Apple, meaning governments can put their thumb on Apple to force them to disallow any non-broken crypto tools from being used. I know this can be changed in Settings for now, but that'll probably go away eventually.
Microsoft will be next of course, and Linux will be portrayed as a "hacking tool" by contrast to the commercial OSs.
No, I think the enforcement of law is comparable to enforcement of any other law.
The same mechanisms that prevent you from breaking law at home, commiting fraud, hurting people, etc. will be used if this law passes. Nothing more, nothing less.
Technocrat delusions on how you'll fight the government with open source are just that. Delusions. They have a wrench and guns.
They'll push the scanning to the OS level, mandate that the OS does it. Hence the seemingly coordinated effort with Google on the sideloading changes, and enforcing play protect, etc.
Like the TPM & Microsoft scare when TPM first started arriving in hardware, and we all thought it would be used to lock out other OSes. Only it's for real this time.
> They'll push the scanning to the OS level
I don't know if this is possible so easily. Does the OS scan the memory of all applications? How does it know what is text and image data?
What if it is encryped or even just obfuscated? Does the OS then track all changes of memory etc?
Or you think it'll just have a rolling keylogger so you can't type in s.th. malicious?
Everything a process does beyond touching memory is going through a syscall. The OS serves every key press to such a program.
The proposed regulation only applies to publicly available services, and only binds service providers, not end users. There is nothing preventing you from sending encrypted emails, just as there is nothing preventing you from pasting encrypted messages into WhatsApp or storing and sharing encrypted files in Dropbox.
What would prevent me from writing my own program to do something simple like sending encrypted messages?
Nothing. That is, nothing until your application becomes popular. I will keep encrypting my emails and they can pound sand once legislation for this makes it to my country. It should be a while before these shenanigans are in every distribution or kernel for Linux.
Good luck being a DOD contractor overseas, wtf?
Good luck having a bank account
Same thing that prevents you form buying a knife and walking around stabbing people.
So you think this is comparable to sending around some data over TCP or UDP?
The people who are trying to install this kind of law basically do!
They want to change the public perception from "Private encrypted communication is good and desirable" to "Encrypted is unsafe. Encrypted could be scary. Encrypted enables Bad People."
In a vain attempt to inhibit access to non-broken cryptography, we will probably see operating systems that allow actual root access to the user -- or even just allowing non-manufacturer-signed executables to run! -- being painted as "unsafe platforms." Apple has already transitioned most of the way to being fully in the "trusted computing" camp, since it takes a great deal of gymnastics to even modify the OS because of the Mac's sealed system volume, and out of the box all executables must be blessed by Apple, meaning governments can put their thumb on Apple to force them to disallow any non-broken crypto tools from being used. I know this can be changed in Settings for now, but that'll probably go away eventually.
Microsoft will be next of course, and Linux will be portrayed as a "hacking tool" by contrast to the commercial OSs.
No, I think the enforcement of law is comparable to enforcement of any other law.
The same mechanisms that prevent you from breaking law at home, commiting fraud, hurting people, etc. will be used if this law passes. Nothing more, nothing less.
Technocrat delusions on how you'll fight the government with open source are just that. Delusions. They have a wrench and guns.